


Watcher

by runningkin



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-20
Updated: 2015-08-20
Packaged: 2018-04-16 08:06:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4617843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/runningkin/pseuds/runningkin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She watches them become talented, gifted people. She's proud of them. She loves them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Watcher

Leslie Knope watched her children sleep when she can't. She takes turns standing by each one's cribs. She spends hours there. She lingers until one of them needs her, or when all of them do.

She watches them crawl and drool. She watches them walk after she watches Ben teaching them how to. She watches them fall sometimes. She comes to their sides when they cry.

She watches Ben talk to them. She watches with a smile on her lips when words slip out of theirs. She laughs when they garble words up and spit them out in slurred gibberish. She stays speechless when they call her "Mommy". She squeezes Ben's hand and watches them speak for the first time.

She watches them grow up. She leaves them at day care and watches them through the glass. She presses her whole body against the door so she can watch them clearly. She watches through teary, watery eyes. She wipes off her tears and goes to work. She watches them in her mind on her drive there.

She watches Wesley take an eye test. He glances over to her whenever he can. She tells him it's going to be okay and he watches her back because he's nervous. She gives him thumbs up. He watches him be scared of the big machines. He watches him tell the doctor what he sees through the big machine. Later, she watches him pick out a pair of glasses. He asks her what she thinks. She says he looks great. They buy the glasses. She watches him watching the world in a new, clearer way. 

She watches all three of them at dinner. She watches them talk, and argue and then grow silent, only to begin talking, again. She watches them eat and discuss. She joins in their conversation, so does Ben. She watches them be a happy family.

She watches them pick out new clothes and supplies for school. They will be going for the first time. She is happy and sad at the same time as she watches them put more and more things in the cart. She doesn't want to lose them. At least, not yet. Actually, not ever. 

On the first day of school, she watches them on the mirror, ready for kindergarten. They are happy and nervous. She is, too. She watches them spill out of the door. She watches them wait for her, and she breathes in and out and goes to them. She watches them lead her to their classes. She squeezes their hands individually before letting them join the class. She cries each time, she presses herself against the door to watch them each time, just like when they were babies.

When they're home, she watches Ben help them with their homework. Most days she helps out, too. But she watches, too, just to remind herself that her life has been perfect for a long time, and she has no issue with that.

She watches them through the mirror every day. She watches them grow every day. She watches them with their friends, she watches Wesley pick out new glasses and Sonia pick out new clothes to impress boys and she watches Stephen paint his own walls and then on a canvas. She cries every time.

Every night, she kisses them each good night. They complain but they let her. She insists on reading them stories, but those will not slip past them. Sometimes, they let her tell them she loves them. The older they get, the less she can get in. When she's done, she watches Ben. The three like their father more because he doesn't take that long. Even if they act that way, she knows they love their parents. She knows because she's been watching them. She tells them she loves them so much because she's not sure they know she loves them.

She watches them make mistakes and grow distant from her. She watches them when they think she isn't. She watches them date and do bad things. She feels sad and betrayed and cries again. She watches them apologize to her, confess to her, and she feels loved and respected and she cries, too.

She watches them become talented, gifted people. She's proud of them. She loves them.

One day, she watches them pack their things. She watches them go. She cries. This time she cries about everything, not just leaving. She cries about them growing and learning and becoming. She cries many times. Ben comforts her. Ann comforts her. They comfort her, too, on the phone. She misses them. She feels everything she's ever felt.

At night, she stays awake but she has no one to watch over. She holds Ben's hand as tight as she can while he sleeps. Sometimes, he stays awake with her as well. She asks him if he thinks they're okay. He always says yes. He sounds so sure. She worries.

And soon, they come back. She watches them come back. They hug her and they tell her they love her, finally, and she tells them she loves them, too, like she has all these years. She watches them as adults, less than when she watched them teens and young children, even lesser than when she watched them as babies. But she watches them.

She watches them walk down the aisle, she watches their children and she watches them watching their children.

Each time, she cries.


End file.
